Sydney Illustrator Wins New Yorker Comp with Hipster Cover

The next New Yorker cover will feature a Brooklyn hipster, though one whose inspiration comes via Surry Hills, after its 2013 Eustace Tilley Contest was won by Sydney illustrator Simon Greiner.

The annual contest challenges entrants to come up with a new twist on its iconic top-hatted mascot, Eustace Tilley, who graced the cover of the magazine's first issue in an illustration by Rea Irvin. The entries reflect the toll that contemporary values and current affairs may have taken on the fictional figure, and Greiner chose to focus on the symmetry he saw between Eustace and today's Williamsburgians.

"The New Yorker mascot Eustace is a dandy," Greiner told us, "and in order to update him to a contemporary setting I just took dandyism to its logical modern equivalent — hipsterism — Brooklyn being one of the centres for this cultural force in the states."

It's a big win for the 31-year-old, who has been living in New York for the last year and a half. His striking design has now been printed on the anniversary issue of what may be the world's most venerable magazine, and he's presumably spending some time strutting around Park Slope blaring 'Empire State of Mind' while actually relating to Jay-Z's lyrics.

"New York is an awesome place, but it can be hard starting out," he says. "I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity, especially since the magazine is such an icon in this city. I kind of feel I've been skipped ahead a couple of spaces on the board — it's very exciting."

If Greiner's visual wit and bold line seem familiar, you may recognise them from local lit journal Ampersand, of which he is resident illustrator, or his Dr Suess sex ed parody, Now That You're Big.

Greiner's cover is below, along with a selection of other entries. This year's prevailing themes were more pop cultural than political, with Instagram, emoji, and Don Draper all making appearances.

Brooklyn's Eustace by Simon Greiner

Eustace-gram by Jin Suk. Readers' choice winner.

Dandy Men by Jeff Weyer. Readers' choice winner.

Eustace in Gangnam Style by Alex S. C. Hsu. Readers' choice winner.

Eustace Emoji by Fred Benenson.

Tilley Submerged by Robert Linn.

Want more Eustace? See how he's been portrayed through time in the New Yorker's gallery.